Speak Up was created to educate, mentor and support women in District 46 Toastmasters. The objective was to create a project to help women (and men) raise their voices in order to compete effectively, especially in the International Speech contest.

Nearly three months have passed since I've blogged...ugh. Stuff gets in the way. But when I look at what is the "stuff" I'm referring to, it seems more like I lost sight of my priorities and life moved along. Sound familiar? You wake up one day and think, where did those three months, three years, 30 years go?!?

Join me this week for Customer Appreciation Week as I share some of the highlights of the past 30 years and what brought me to this place today!
But first and foremost, thank you to each and everyone of you - whether I saw you three days ago, three weeks ago, three months ago or 30 years ago - thank you!
I am grateful to you and celebrate YOU this week!

It's been a very busy fall! Dance majors from UMASS Amherst, Toastmasters District 22 Conference and I'm headed to Florida for the Binge Eating Disorder Conference where I will be presenting "Creating the Movement Dialogue Between the Clinician and Patient."

I am the ONLY female to hold both the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)* designation from the National Speakers Association AND the Accredited Speakers (AS)** designation from Toastmasters International. And I have YOU to thank!

It's Monday...again. And you may approach it with renewed vigor for your health and wellness, or you may feel sloth-like and loathing after a weekend of indulgence. I'm mixed on the fence today. But here's the good news...it costs you absolutely nothing to bring yourself back to center.

I'll admit it. I had my gluteus maximus handed to me on a silver platter last weekend. I was teaching jazz dance at Berkshire Pulse in Massachusetts. Two classes on Saturday. One was an hour and a half. The second one was two hours. As a teacher, you generally are not doing the entire class [...]